Who we are

Craige is an arable and dairy farmer focussed on Precision Agriculture. Craige and wife Roz farm Greenvale Pastures, an arable cropping property near Methven, NZ. They are also partners in Three Springs Dairies Ltd, a neighbouring dairy farm.

Farming since 1984, Craige has developed a keen interest in sustainable farming practices and innovative solutions for New Zealand agriculture.

Craige is involved in research programmes with various organisations. He is a member of the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) Strategic Research Committee, Chair of the Precision Agriculture Association of NZ (PAANZ), Board member of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) and a NZ delegate to the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA). Craige is a New Zealand Nuffield Scholar and in has been the recipient of various awards most recently being the Ballance Farm Environmental Awards Supreme Award for the Canterbury region. Craige is also an Alumni member of the 2012 Global Farmer Roundtable, and will be attending again later in 2014.

Craige loves travel, NZ’s Sauvignon Blanc and American Muscle cars and isn’t great at sitting still.

Jemma Mulvihill graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours in 2009. During Jemma’s stint as an undergrad she completed a year’s study abroad in the US at Colorado State University where she came across Precision Ag, amongst other things, and all it had to offer for the US market. Jemma saw that there could be a really good fit with some of these Precision Agriculture technologies and techniques here in NZ to enhance NZ agriculture. After finishing her undergrad degree Jemma set up a Precision Agriculture company with Craige and Roz, filling the gap in the ever-changing technology driven ag market that they could see developing in NZ.

With over 20 years’ experience in farming, both in NZ and the UK Chris boasts a wide range of skills covering all aspects of agricultural management. Chris is the winner of awards in the UK for improved production yields, reduced overheads and a range of environmental schemes and enterprises. He moved to NZ in 2007 from the UK to manage a mixed 600ha cropping farm in Canterbury until late 2012.

Chris has experience in EM Soil Mapping, a range of variable rate application technologies and has worked with on farm computer systems for over 15 years. In the UK Chris was involved from the early stages with variable rate nutrient application from grid soil sampling, canopy imagery and yield mapping.

A great family man, Chris enjoys soccer refereeing, biking, hiking and socialising with family and friends.

Nick graduated from Lincoln University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture. He then went on to complete a Master of Management in Agribusiness in 2015. During his time at university Nick sought out varied practical work experiences ranging from dairy farming on the West Coast to a wheat harvest in Victoria, Australia. Combining these experiences with university learning has built a solid foundation of agricultural knowledge.

During the course of his Masters Nick was exposed to Precision Ag and found it to be a fascinating area of agriculture that had great potential.

In down time off Nick enjoys mountain-biking and getting into the outdoors, be it hunting, diving or tramping.

Lucy graduated from Lincoln University in 2012 with a bachelor of agricultural science with honours. She grew up sheep and beef farm in near Kaikoura which kickstarted her enthusiasm for agriculture. Through her degree she had experience on sheep and beef and dairy farms as well as doing a small research project. She worked as a Technical Field Rep for PGW post university. Then spent 3 months working on a sheep and beef station in NSW Australia and spent a year farming back in NZ prior to starting with Agri Optics.

Lucy is new to Precision Agriculture but is excited about incorporating it into NZ farms and helping farmers realise the potential it has to help improve their farm systems.

Outside of work Lucy enjoys sports such as hockey, running, biking as well as getting out of the farm and socialising with family and friends.

Cindy graduated from Otago University with a Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours in 2007. She has a background in environmental monitoring, hydrology and resource consent compliance. Cindy has been installing soil moisture probes, flowmeters, weather stations and many other sensors on farms around New Zealand for a number of years. She specialises in soil moisture sensors and installation and can help with location, interpreting the data and provide advice on irrigation management. She can work with you to provide a monitoring solution to suit your farm. Cindy has undertaken a number of aquifer tests, groundwater monitoring work and written a number of consent applications.

In her spare time Cindy enjoys trail running, hockey, tramping and exploring New Zealand’s back country.